Cyber Millennials Found to be Heaviest Binge Drinkers

Is there a potential link between those who are tech savvy and those who are more likely to engage in binge drinking? According to a Canadian Press piece, affluent, highly educated and tech-savvy young adults are more likely to engage in the binge drinking activity. A study examined the habits of “Cyber Millennials”, well-educated, tech-savvy individuals aged 25 to 44 with a median income of more than $79,000. These individuals live in urban fringe areas on the West Coast and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. The findings of the study are set to be published in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. The reported findings indicate that Cyber Millennials led the pack in risky levels of alcohol consumption. At the same time, this population is also the most health-conscious and a lower-than-average smoking rate. “They own bicycles, they buy organic foods, and they’re extremely health-conscious, but they engage in this rather health-destructive behavior of binge drinking at least twice a month, and that’s fairly ironic from our perspective,” said study co-author Dr. Howard Moss, associate director for clinical and translational research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. According to researchers, 12.4 percent of Cyber Millennials – or more than 314,000 people – have reported having five or more drinks on one occasion at least twice over the course of 30 days. This finding was double the national average for the U.S. at 6.1 percent. This research is also consistent with recent findings from the NIAAA national surveys. The perception of alcohol dependence is that it is something that happens to people in middle age; however, it is 20-somethings that represent the highest proportion of alcohol-dependent individuals in the U.S.